The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) named six universities to lead cybersecurity centers and receive a combined $15 million in research and training which were selected by the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER).

Iowa State will be the lead institution for the Center for Cybersecurity and Resiliency of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and Microgrids-integrated Distribution Systems, also known as CyDERMS. The university will receive $2.5 million from the DOE for the two-year project.

Manimaran Govindarasu, a professor in engineering and the project’s principal investigator, said being selected “means a lot” because “it’s quite a bit of competition.”

“The key here is not just having a good idea, in terms of research, but also coming with a team,” Govindarasu said. “You have a research team. Interdisciplinary is a naturally disciplinary field. That means you need to have expertise in cybersecurity… and also industry partnership.”

The Anson Marston distinguished professor credited CESER’s selection to Iowa State’s industry partnerships and the university being a “great place” for interdisciplinary research.

“We have other centers we can leverage through to establish this new center,” Govindarasu said. “If you go and [say], ‘Oh, I have a great idea, I will start a proposal,’ I can write a proposal but it cannot be interdisciplinary at the same time, you need to have those other pieces in place.”

Govindarasu added that it is an especially important project as the U.S. integrates a large number of renewable energy sources into the grid and that CyDERMS will ensure the “new grid environment is secure and resilient.”

“Students will take classes related to cybersecurity,” Govindarasu said. “Cybersecurity for renewable energy, cybersecurity for the smart grid, electric grid and those concepts will be part of those courses. Basically, there is a lot of opportunity for students to learn this new emerging cybersecurity needs as part of their education.”

CyDERMS will develop algorithms and utilize AI to detect anomalous grid activities to prevent bad traffic and commands from being exercised on the grid.

“You have a solar farm, wind farm, all those things, but there is communication and control happening,” Govindarasu said. “It’s not just operating in isolation, [it] is connected to the control center and is being monitored.”

Ultimately, the center will mimic miniaturized grid environments on a lab scale and Govindarasu hopes the university will receive additional funding in the future to sustain it. Some Iowa State students will be trained through the graduate program and undergraduate students can be involved through capstone projects.